Finances and Children: Parenting IV

Raising children to become financially savvy increases advantages.

The day after they were born, our children received money from relatives.I opened a bank account for each child. At about four years of age, they were getting an inkling of what money was about so they helped put newly received money into their account.

In order to set an example ourselves, my husband and I made great effort to be financially responsible. We paid all our bills on time and rarely used the credit card if we couldn’t pay the entire amount off at the end of the month.

When we donated to charities, we found the children also loved to contribute.

We gave them paying jobs around the house when they were about nine years old. They were happily impressed to see how their paychecks increased their bank account considerably. Their work-ethic was recognized by other people, who hired them when they were fourteen years old.

As licensed foster parents, we applied the same principles to all the children who came to stay with us. When they moved on they took with them a bank account book and learned skills.

We are also cheap.

We cook our own meals instead of eat out. We share clothes. We drive used, paid for vehicles. We stay at hostels when traveling. We re-use kleenex when we don’t have a washable hanky handy. Craigslist is our shopping mall. I don’t even own, therefore make monthy payments on, a cell-phone. We haven’t paid a TV, cable bill for over twenty years (no TV reception started that savings fad, but it served us well  because there was no arguing about TV shows and the girls earned high grades).

All this cheapness pays off. Sometimes it put a dent in our ego. However, the day comes when we can purchase something really fantastic.

For example, when the oldest daughter turned sixteen she had the funds to purchase her dream car, a 69 Chevy Camaro. She drove it until she went to college and then her sister drove it.

One lesson I did learn, however, while teaching financial lessons, is that I needed to have the right attitude. At one point I was thinking I had  superior ability to be cheap. But, a superior attitude, by default, accepts an inferior attitude. So, instead of thinking I have a smart, or dumb, brain, I pray to open my consciousness to the all-wise God. I can still be cheap, but I never begrudge paying higher prices for something worthwhile.

Camaro by the Columbia River

“Experience should be the school of virtue.” —Science and Health

In other words, experience should not be the school of confusion and lack.

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